Dictionary.com reveals 6-7 as Word of the Year, capturing the chaos of 2025 internet culture

Every year, Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year acts as a linguistic time capsule, capturing the slang, memes, and cultural shifts that defined the past 12 months.

For 2025, the honour goes to something that isn’t even a word: 6-7.

Yes, 6-7 — two innocent numbers that somehow became a generational divide, a TikTok obsession, and now, the year’s most talked-about expression. Parents are baffled, Gen Alpha is smug, and linguists are exasperated.

Why 6-7?

To select the Word of the Year, Dictionary.com’s lexicographers analysed social media trends, headlines, and search data.

Searches for 6-7 exploded mid-2025, increasing sixfold by June. Every other number stayed flat, confirming there was something special, or at least spectacularly strange, about 67.

The term first appeared in rapper Skrilla’s viral track “Doot Doot (6-7)” before flooding TikTok.

Clips featuring basketball players chanting “six-seven” and one child known as the 67 Kid cemented it as the year’s biggest linguistic meme. Teachers even began swapping tips on how to get students to stop saying it.

It can appear as “6 7,” “six-seven,” or “6-7,” but whatever you do, never say “sixty-seven.” That’s the quickest way to expose yourself as an out-of-touch adult.

What does it mean?

That’s the fun part: no one knows.

Some say it means “so-so” or “maybe,” often paired with its trademark hand gesture, palms up, alternating like a human scale. Others treat it as a universal reply, a playful way to frustrate authority figures.

Ask a teenager how school was and you’ll likely hear: “6-7.”

It’s nonsense, but that’s precisely why it resonates. It’s the perfect emblem of an internet era defined by irony, in-jokes, and infinite scrolling. As Dictionary.com puts it, 6-7 “shows the speed at which a new word can rocket around the world as a rising generation enters the global conversation.”

Other words that defined 2025

While 6-7 took the crown, several other contenders captured the year’s digital and political mood:

• Agentic: Once an academic term for human agency, now used for AI that acts autonomously, reflecting fears about self-directed technology.

• Aura farming: The act of curating one’s energy or vibe online, popularised by the viral “boat kid” meme.

• Broligarchy: A mix of bro and oligarchy, describing the tech-bro elite orbiting power in 2025.

• Clanker: A snarky label for AI systems or chatbots, repurposed from sci-fi slang.

• Dynamite emoji: Rebranded by fans as “T’n’T,” shorthand for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

• Gen Z stare: The blank, unreadable look that became a meme and a cultural talking point.

• Overtourism: The resurgence of travel crowds is straining destinations like Venice and Mount Fuji.

• Tradwife: A revived term for the “traditional wife” aesthetic, sparking fresh debate about gender and domesticity.

The language of now

Dictionary.com says its Word of the Year isn’t about popularity, it’s about reflection.

“Language doesn’t just describe culture, it drives it,” the site’s editors said.

“When we choose a Word of the Year, we’re capturing how people express who they are and what matters to them.”

And in 2025, that expression is clear — even if it makes no sense at all.

It’s 6-7.